Dr. Nirajan Bhattarai is working as the Associate Professor and the Chairman of Department of Animal Breeding and Biotechnology under the Faculty of Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Fisheries in Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. He completed his PhD degree from Tribhuvan University, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Sanepa, Lalitpur, Nepal. Dr. Bhattarai has published more than six dozens of scientific articles as a main or co-author till September, 2020.
A study was conducted to evaluate genetic polymorphism in three Sakini chicken populations using ... more A study was conducted to evaluate genetic polymorphism in three Sakini chicken populations using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with seven highly polymorphic primers. All populations showed polymorphism with these primers that generates 59 different bands with an average of 8.4 bands per primer with 78.6% polymorphism nature. Primer OPA-16 produced the highest number of polymorphism bands 47 % and the lowest number of bands was produced by the OPA-05 primer 24 %. Differences for genetic distance (D) among populations were significant (P<0.05). A consensus dendogram was therefore developed to show the phylogenetic relationship among the populations. The cluster pattern is well supported by the principle component analysis that also separates all three populations of Sakini chicken into six major groups. The results provide evidence of the applicability of RAPD to determining genetic relatedness within and among different poultry populations and in developing reprod...
Livestock is one of the important components Nepalese farming systems. Nepal consists of about 30... more Livestock is one of the important components Nepalese farming systems. Nepal consists of about 30 indigenous breeds of farm animals including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, poultry & horse. There are four commonly recognized indigenous indigenous genetic resources of goats in Nepal including Chyangra, Sinhal, Khari & Terai which are located in Mountains, High hills, Mid-hills & Terai region of Nepal respectively. Many indigenous genetic resources of farm animals including goat are at risk of extinction due to crossbreeding and lack of conservation efforts from government side. It's an urgent need to identify & conserve the native breeds of livestock species for future generation. This work has tried to characterize and evaluate the morphological traits, productive traits, reproductive traits including dam and litter traits of Terai goats located in Siraha district of eastern Nepal that will assist for improving the genetic potentiality and overall productivity of these goats...
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2021
Present study was carried out mainly aiming at studying the effect of non-genetic factors on prol... more Present study was carried out mainly aiming at studying the effect of non-genetic factors on prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality of Khari goats in Nawalpur, Nepal. The traits were recorded for 1005 does were measured and analyzed using fixed effect Least Square Mixed Model and Maximum Likelihood Computer Program (LSMMML PC-2). Results revealed that overall mean prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality in this study were 145 and 6.2%, respectively. According to the results, non-genetic factors such as altitude, coat color and dam’s parity were the important sources of variation with respect to pre-weaning kid mortality and prolificacy of Khari goats in this study. Thus, the results of present study suggested the scope of improvement in prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality through selective breeding.
International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 2019
Campylobacter is a fastidious organism that is capable of surviving in wide range of environments... more Campylobacter is a fastidious organism that is capable of surviving in wide range of environments and potentially can cause serious infection in human and animal which can commonly available in the different sources of water used for daily purpose. This research was conducted to figure out the prevalence of the thermophilic Campylobacter in the water used in various slaughter houses of Kathmandu and Ruphendehi district of Nepal. So a cross sectional study was conducted and 200 water samples (100 for each district) was collected aseptically and submitted to Bacteriological Unit for the confirmation. Isolation and identification of Campylobacter was being done as described by OIE Terrestrial Manual, 2004, Chapter 2.8.10. Laboratory finding was done to confirm the positive cases. The study revealed the prevalence status of Campylobacter in water used in the slaughter house of Ruphendehi district is 12% and Kathmandu Valley is 0.00%. Thus, Ruphendehi has comparatively more prevalence of...
Journal of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, 2018
 A study was conducted at Gitanagar VDC of Chitwan during May to August 2012, to find the effect ... more  A study was conducted at Gitanagar VDC of Chitwan during May to August 2012, to find the effect of chopped and un-chopped rice straw in relation to with/ without treatment of urea (4%) on milk yield and its composition. Repeated Measure Design (RMD) was conducted in 8 cows and four treatments namely; T1 (un-chopped straw), T2 (chopped straw), T3 (un-chopped straw with urea solution @ 4%) and T4 (chopped straw with urea solution @ 4%) providing all four treatments to each cow at an interval of 15 days to match with the design. The samples of treatments were analyzed for CP, EE, CF, Moisture level, and total ash content. Urea treated rice straw consumption was significantly different (p<0.05) among treatments. The average uptake of rice straw in T1, T2, T3 and T4 was found to be 3.39, 3.73, 3.81 and 3.9 kg/cow/day respectively. Similarly, milk yield from urea treated chopped rice straw was found significantly different (p<0.01) among other treatments. The average milk yield in ...
Data from 19 herds in E1 Salvador, covering 1967 to 1972, were analyzed to determine factors affe... more Data from 19 herds in E1 Salvador, covering 1967 to 1972, were analyzed to determine factors affecting milk yield. Total data set was 2919 lactation records. Mean performance was 154 d open, 282 d in milk, and 2636 kg milk;mean age of cows was 66 too. Age of first calf heifers was 34.4 too. Holstein and Brown Swiss crossbreds and pure Guernseys produced 2710, 2797, and 2737 kg; Mestiza, Criollo and Brahman produced 2439, 2083, and 1974 kg. Mean increases of yield per percent increase of Holstein or Brown Swiss breeding was 9.9 kg. Slight decreases of age at first parturition with upgrading were detected. January through June was most favorable for parturition with mean milk yield 3.6% higher than remaining months; effects of month of parturition seemed greatest for Brahman, Criollo, and Mestiza and least for Brown Swiss. Effects of days open on yields were similar to estimates in the United States, although large for Brah- man, Criollo, and Mestiza. Regressions of yield on kilogram concentrates fed and kilogram body weight, pooled within Holsteins and Brown Swiss, were 1.53 and 2.55 kg. Under climate and manage- ment conditions of this population, con- tinued upgrading to Holstein and Brown Swiss seemed warranted, as did utilization of feeding and management practices profitable in temperate dairy cattle and milk production areas.
The intermixing of pure breeds of commercial chickens with Nepalese indigenous flock of chickens ... more The intermixing of pure breeds of commercial chickens with Nepalese indigenous flock of chickens has not been explored yet genetically. The study aims to investigate the status of interbreeding of Nepalese indigenous chickens with exotic breeds. Thirty three samples of indigenous chicken, Sakini, from three different ecological regions, Terai, mid-hill and high hill, were taken for the study. The 522 bp hyper-variable region of D loop mtDNA of each sampled population was PCR amplified and sequenced. The Neighbor joining tree revealed that most of Nepalese Sakini and commercial chickens such as New Hampshire, Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn, White Plymouth Rock and Barred Plymouth Rock lied in same clade. Our study provides first direct evidence that the Sakini was already bred with commercial breeds for the sake of enhancing production performance and also alarms the government to introduce proper strategies and policies to avoid such genetic erosion.
International Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 2020
Indigenous Sakini chicken is the principal breed in Nepal. Present study was conducted mainly aim... more Indigenous Sakini chicken is the principal breed in Nepal. Present study was conducted mainly aiming at comparing external and internal egg quality traits in four different generations (G0, G1, G2 and G3) of Sakini chicken and determining relationships among these traits. Total of 154 eggs (G0: 30, G1: 44, G2: 40, G3: 40) were evaluated for external egg traits like egg weight, egg length, egg breadth, shell thickness, shell weight and internal egg traits like yolk weight, yolk height, yolk diameter, albumen weight, albumen height, albumen diameter. The data were recorded and analysed using GenStat 19 edition software. There was significant difference in almost all traits of external and internal traits of egg except egg shell quality, yolk to albumin ratio and yolk percentage. Encouragingly, we had observed an increasing trend for each trait specially Haugh unit, a measure for better quality of egg protein in every generation indicating that selection to be continued unless the unif...
A study was executed during October-November 2016 to evaluate the effect of breed, parity and bre... more A study was executed during October-November 2016 to evaluate the effect of breed, parity and breed-parity interaction (breed × parity) on lactational efficiency of indigenous buffaloes. The sites of study were Muna VDC-3, Faliyagaun of Myagdi district and Ramjhathati VDC-9 of Parbat district at Western Nepal. Total of 100 buffaloes, 50 from each study site were considered by purposive sampling and data were collected using the semi structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by Henderson’s Least Square Mixed Model and Maximum Likelihood (LSMMML PC-2) computer program using Harvey-1990 software. Colostrum period (days), Days to reach peak milk yield (DPMY), Lactation length (days) and Dry period (days) were the parameters under consideration to study the lactational efficiency. The overall means for colostrums period, DPMY, lactation length and dry period were 3.11, 13.91, 362.10 and 165.40 days respectively. All non genetic factors; breed, parity and (breed × parity) had non-s...
However, more records on productive traits of half sibs should be included in the analysis in ord... more However, more records on productive traits of half sibs should be included in the analysis in order to minimize standard errors and increase the reliability of the genetic parameters estimated.
With the aim of determining effect of parity on different traits related to lactational efficienc... more With the aim of determining effect of parity on different traits related to lactational efficiency, Kalika Municipality, Padampur of Chitwan District was purposively selected and field assessment was conducted from April to August, 2017. Primary data were collected through direct interview with 37 buffalo rearing farmers using closed ended semi-structured questionnaire. Various traits related to lactational efficiency including colostrum period, days to reach peak milk yield, lactation length and dry period were taken under consideration. One way analysis of variance was performed to assess the effect of parity on the traits considered using GenStat4. Findings of present study revealed that overall mean of colostrum period, days to reach peak milk yield, lactation length and dry period were 5.2±1.8 days, 23.3±8.8 days, 344.0±102.0 days, 110.9±61.4 days, respectively which were obtained with ranges 2-11 days, 10-45 days, 90-600 days, and 30-300 days, respectively. Meanwhile, parity h...
Nepalese cattle are known for their genetic potentiality concerning inhabitant in extreme climati... more Nepalese cattle are known for their genetic potentiality concerning inhabitant in extreme climatic conditions, surviving in the scarce food supply, and resistant to several diseases. We aimed to assess Nepal’s ancestral origin and genetic diversity of indigenous cattle breeds based on hyper-variable D loop mtDNA sequences. Three cattle breeds (Siri, Achammi, & Lulu) comprising the total sample population (n= 75) were employed in the study where the mt DNA information of two breeds (Achammi & Lulu) were retrieved from the published source. Hyper-variable D loop (910bp) of Siri cattle was PCR amplified and sequenced. This study claims that the possible ancestral origin of Bos taurus and Bos indicus mtDNA lineage in the Nepalese cattle population is majorly influenced by China and India, respectively. This study suggests that Nepalese cattle can be divided into two major groups: Bos taurus and Bos indicus, where most of the cattle population was of Bos indicus origin. The sampled popul...
Achhami cattle is claimed to be the world's smallest cattle which is found in Achham district... more Achhami cattle is claimed to be the world's smallest cattle which is found in Achham district of Sudur Paschim Province of Nepal. A study was carried out to investigate the polymorphism in the control region of the mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in these Achhami cattle. Thirty-seven blood samples were collected from different pocket areas of in Achham district. Our study revealed that Achhami cattle lie significantly within the indicine haplogroups rather than taurine (34 out of 37 samples) manifesting the later introgression by taurine cattle population. The taurine haplogroup, found within Achhami was different than Lulu cattle, which might be from the independent domestication event. Within indicine haplogroup, I1 type haplogroup (64.7%) was found dominant over I2 type haplogroup (35.3%). Achhami cattle revealed its uniqueness as it segregates from Indian cattle for indicine type as well as Chinese cattle for taurine type. In order to understand its ancestry, the whole genome...
Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, 2020
Indigenous chickens are quite popular in Family Poultry Production System (FPPS) in Nepal, but ar... more Indigenous chickens are quite popular in Family Poultry Production System (FPPS) in Nepal, but are constrained with their low productive performance. The present study evaluated the productive and reproductive performance of Sakini chicken in different filial generations and sexes. In addition, research also aimed at understanding the effect of generations on above performances. Initially, base populations (G-0) of Sakini were maintained by collecting eight weeks old birds from different agro-ecologial zones of Nepal. Performance of the birds of G-0 was evaluated based on weekly body weight (12-24 weeks), laying performance, fertility, hatchability, hatch weight and survivability. Selected birds of base population (G-0) were used to produce first (G-1), second (G-2) and third (G-3) generations through selective breeding in each generation. Similarly, body weights at hatching, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 week and 24 weeks were significantly (p<0.001) improved from G0 to G3 and were als...
A study was conducted to evaluate genetic polymorphism in three Sakini chicken populations using ... more A study was conducted to evaluate genetic polymorphism in three Sakini chicken populations using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with seven highly polymorphic primers. All populations showed polymorphism with these primers that generates 59 different bands with an average of 8.4 bands per primer with 78.6% polymorphism nature. Primer OPA-16 produced the highest number of polymorphism bands 47 % and the lowest number of bands was produced by the OPA-05 primer 24 %. Differences for genetic distance (D) among populations were significant (P<0.05). A consensus dendogram was therefore developed to show the phylogenetic relationship among the populations. The cluster pattern is well supported by the principle component analysis that also separates all three populations of Sakini chicken into six major groups. The results provide evidence of the applicability of RAPD to determining genetic relatedness within and among different poultry populations and in developing reprod...
Livestock is one of the important components Nepalese farming systems. Nepal consists of about 30... more Livestock is one of the important components Nepalese farming systems. Nepal consists of about 30 indigenous breeds of farm animals including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, poultry & horse. There are four commonly recognized indigenous indigenous genetic resources of goats in Nepal including Chyangra, Sinhal, Khari & Terai which are located in Mountains, High hills, Mid-hills & Terai region of Nepal respectively. Many indigenous genetic resources of farm animals including goat are at risk of extinction due to crossbreeding and lack of conservation efforts from government side. It's an urgent need to identify & conserve the native breeds of livestock species for future generation. This work has tried to characterize and evaluate the morphological traits, productive traits, reproductive traits including dam and litter traits of Terai goats located in Siraha district of eastern Nepal that will assist for improving the genetic potentiality and overall productivity of these goats...
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2021
Present study was carried out mainly aiming at studying the effect of non-genetic factors on prol... more Present study was carried out mainly aiming at studying the effect of non-genetic factors on prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality of Khari goats in Nawalpur, Nepal. The traits were recorded for 1005 does were measured and analyzed using fixed effect Least Square Mixed Model and Maximum Likelihood Computer Program (LSMMML PC-2). Results revealed that overall mean prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality in this study were 145 and 6.2%, respectively. According to the results, non-genetic factors such as altitude, coat color and dam’s parity were the important sources of variation with respect to pre-weaning kid mortality and prolificacy of Khari goats in this study. Thus, the results of present study suggested the scope of improvement in prolificacy and pre-weaning kid mortality through selective breeding.
International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 2019
Campylobacter is a fastidious organism that is capable of surviving in wide range of environments... more Campylobacter is a fastidious organism that is capable of surviving in wide range of environments and potentially can cause serious infection in human and animal which can commonly available in the different sources of water used for daily purpose. This research was conducted to figure out the prevalence of the thermophilic Campylobacter in the water used in various slaughter houses of Kathmandu and Ruphendehi district of Nepal. So a cross sectional study was conducted and 200 water samples (100 for each district) was collected aseptically and submitted to Bacteriological Unit for the confirmation. Isolation and identification of Campylobacter was being done as described by OIE Terrestrial Manual, 2004, Chapter 2.8.10. Laboratory finding was done to confirm the positive cases. The study revealed the prevalence status of Campylobacter in water used in the slaughter house of Ruphendehi district is 12% and Kathmandu Valley is 0.00%. Thus, Ruphendehi has comparatively more prevalence of...
Journal of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, 2018
 A study was conducted at Gitanagar VDC of Chitwan during May to August 2012, to find the effect ... more  A study was conducted at Gitanagar VDC of Chitwan during May to August 2012, to find the effect of chopped and un-chopped rice straw in relation to with/ without treatment of urea (4%) on milk yield and its composition. Repeated Measure Design (RMD) was conducted in 8 cows and four treatments namely; T1 (un-chopped straw), T2 (chopped straw), T3 (un-chopped straw with urea solution @ 4%) and T4 (chopped straw with urea solution @ 4%) providing all four treatments to each cow at an interval of 15 days to match with the design. The samples of treatments were analyzed for CP, EE, CF, Moisture level, and total ash content. Urea treated rice straw consumption was significantly different (p<0.05) among treatments. The average uptake of rice straw in T1, T2, T3 and T4 was found to be 3.39, 3.73, 3.81 and 3.9 kg/cow/day respectively. Similarly, milk yield from urea treated chopped rice straw was found significantly different (p<0.01) among other treatments. The average milk yield in ...
Data from 19 herds in E1 Salvador, covering 1967 to 1972, were analyzed to determine factors affe... more Data from 19 herds in E1 Salvador, covering 1967 to 1972, were analyzed to determine factors affecting milk yield. Total data set was 2919 lactation records. Mean performance was 154 d open, 282 d in milk, and 2636 kg milk;mean age of cows was 66 too. Age of first calf heifers was 34.4 too. Holstein and Brown Swiss crossbreds and pure Guernseys produced 2710, 2797, and 2737 kg; Mestiza, Criollo and Brahman produced 2439, 2083, and 1974 kg. Mean increases of yield per percent increase of Holstein or Brown Swiss breeding was 9.9 kg. Slight decreases of age at first parturition with upgrading were detected. January through June was most favorable for parturition with mean milk yield 3.6% higher than remaining months; effects of month of parturition seemed greatest for Brahman, Criollo, and Mestiza and least for Brown Swiss. Effects of days open on yields were similar to estimates in the United States, although large for Brah- man, Criollo, and Mestiza. Regressions of yield on kilogram concentrates fed and kilogram body weight, pooled within Holsteins and Brown Swiss, were 1.53 and 2.55 kg. Under climate and manage- ment conditions of this population, con- tinued upgrading to Holstein and Brown Swiss seemed warranted, as did utilization of feeding and management practices profitable in temperate dairy cattle and milk production areas.
The intermixing of pure breeds of commercial chickens with Nepalese indigenous flock of chickens ... more The intermixing of pure breeds of commercial chickens with Nepalese indigenous flock of chickens has not been explored yet genetically. The study aims to investigate the status of interbreeding of Nepalese indigenous chickens with exotic breeds. Thirty three samples of indigenous chicken, Sakini, from three different ecological regions, Terai, mid-hill and high hill, were taken for the study. The 522 bp hyper-variable region of D loop mtDNA of each sampled population was PCR amplified and sequenced. The Neighbor joining tree revealed that most of Nepalese Sakini and commercial chickens such as New Hampshire, Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn, White Plymouth Rock and Barred Plymouth Rock lied in same clade. Our study provides first direct evidence that the Sakini was already bred with commercial breeds for the sake of enhancing production performance and also alarms the government to introduce proper strategies and policies to avoid such genetic erosion.
International Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 2020
Indigenous Sakini chicken is the principal breed in Nepal. Present study was conducted mainly aim... more Indigenous Sakini chicken is the principal breed in Nepal. Present study was conducted mainly aiming at comparing external and internal egg quality traits in four different generations (G0, G1, G2 and G3) of Sakini chicken and determining relationships among these traits. Total of 154 eggs (G0: 30, G1: 44, G2: 40, G3: 40) were evaluated for external egg traits like egg weight, egg length, egg breadth, shell thickness, shell weight and internal egg traits like yolk weight, yolk height, yolk diameter, albumen weight, albumen height, albumen diameter. The data were recorded and analysed using GenStat 19 edition software. There was significant difference in almost all traits of external and internal traits of egg except egg shell quality, yolk to albumin ratio and yolk percentage. Encouragingly, we had observed an increasing trend for each trait specially Haugh unit, a measure for better quality of egg protein in every generation indicating that selection to be continued unless the unif...
A study was executed during October-November 2016 to evaluate the effect of breed, parity and bre... more A study was executed during October-November 2016 to evaluate the effect of breed, parity and breed-parity interaction (breed × parity) on lactational efficiency of indigenous buffaloes. The sites of study were Muna VDC-3, Faliyagaun of Myagdi district and Ramjhathati VDC-9 of Parbat district at Western Nepal. Total of 100 buffaloes, 50 from each study site were considered by purposive sampling and data were collected using the semi structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by Henderson’s Least Square Mixed Model and Maximum Likelihood (LSMMML PC-2) computer program using Harvey-1990 software. Colostrum period (days), Days to reach peak milk yield (DPMY), Lactation length (days) and Dry period (days) were the parameters under consideration to study the lactational efficiency. The overall means for colostrums period, DPMY, lactation length and dry period were 3.11, 13.91, 362.10 and 165.40 days respectively. All non genetic factors; breed, parity and (breed × parity) had non-s...
However, more records on productive traits of half sibs should be included in the analysis in ord... more However, more records on productive traits of half sibs should be included in the analysis in order to minimize standard errors and increase the reliability of the genetic parameters estimated.
With the aim of determining effect of parity on different traits related to lactational efficienc... more With the aim of determining effect of parity on different traits related to lactational efficiency, Kalika Municipality, Padampur of Chitwan District was purposively selected and field assessment was conducted from April to August, 2017. Primary data were collected through direct interview with 37 buffalo rearing farmers using closed ended semi-structured questionnaire. Various traits related to lactational efficiency including colostrum period, days to reach peak milk yield, lactation length and dry period were taken under consideration. One way analysis of variance was performed to assess the effect of parity on the traits considered using GenStat4. Findings of present study revealed that overall mean of colostrum period, days to reach peak milk yield, lactation length and dry period were 5.2±1.8 days, 23.3±8.8 days, 344.0±102.0 days, 110.9±61.4 days, respectively which were obtained with ranges 2-11 days, 10-45 days, 90-600 days, and 30-300 days, respectively. Meanwhile, parity h...
Nepalese cattle are known for their genetic potentiality concerning inhabitant in extreme climati... more Nepalese cattle are known for their genetic potentiality concerning inhabitant in extreme climatic conditions, surviving in the scarce food supply, and resistant to several diseases. We aimed to assess Nepal’s ancestral origin and genetic diversity of indigenous cattle breeds based on hyper-variable D loop mtDNA sequences. Three cattle breeds (Siri, Achammi, & Lulu) comprising the total sample population (n= 75) were employed in the study where the mt DNA information of two breeds (Achammi & Lulu) were retrieved from the published source. Hyper-variable D loop (910bp) of Siri cattle was PCR amplified and sequenced. This study claims that the possible ancestral origin of Bos taurus and Bos indicus mtDNA lineage in the Nepalese cattle population is majorly influenced by China and India, respectively. This study suggests that Nepalese cattle can be divided into two major groups: Bos taurus and Bos indicus, where most of the cattle population was of Bos indicus origin. The sampled popul...
Achhami cattle is claimed to be the world's smallest cattle which is found in Achham district... more Achhami cattle is claimed to be the world's smallest cattle which is found in Achham district of Sudur Paschim Province of Nepal. A study was carried out to investigate the polymorphism in the control region of the mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in these Achhami cattle. Thirty-seven blood samples were collected from different pocket areas of in Achham district. Our study revealed that Achhami cattle lie significantly within the indicine haplogroups rather than taurine (34 out of 37 samples) manifesting the later introgression by taurine cattle population. The taurine haplogroup, found within Achhami was different than Lulu cattle, which might be from the independent domestication event. Within indicine haplogroup, I1 type haplogroup (64.7%) was found dominant over I2 type haplogroup (35.3%). Achhami cattle revealed its uniqueness as it segregates from Indian cattle for indicine type as well as Chinese cattle for taurine type. In order to understand its ancestry, the whole genome...
Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, 2020
Indigenous chickens are quite popular in Family Poultry Production System (FPPS) in Nepal, but ar... more Indigenous chickens are quite popular in Family Poultry Production System (FPPS) in Nepal, but are constrained with their low productive performance. The present study evaluated the productive and reproductive performance of Sakini chicken in different filial generations and sexes. In addition, research also aimed at understanding the effect of generations on above performances. Initially, base populations (G-0) of Sakini were maintained by collecting eight weeks old birds from different agro-ecologial zones of Nepal. Performance of the birds of G-0 was evaluated based on weekly body weight (12-24 weeks), laying performance, fertility, hatchability, hatch weight and survivability. Selected birds of base population (G-0) were used to produce first (G-1), second (G-2) and third (G-3) generations through selective breeding in each generation. Similarly, body weights at hatching, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 week and 24 weeks were significantly (p<0.001) improved from G0 to G3 and were als...
Goats are the indispensable component of rural economy in Nepal where 10.98 million goats account... more Goats are the indispensable component of rural economy in Nepal where 10.98 million goats accounting for 45.3% of total ruminants contribute to 20.3% of the total meat production and 49.2 million US dollar in the national economy. Being popular as "poor man's cow" and "living cheque," they significantly contribute to food, nutritional, and economic security of the marginalized farmers creating employment opportunities in the country. This chapter has tried to review the existing breeds, their breeding systems, challenges and way forward to enhance production and productivity of goats. Findings revealed that Nepal is endowed with four major indigenous genetic resources of goats and their crosses with Boer, Jamnapari, Barbari, Sirohi, etc. Occasionally, native goat breeds of Nepal were crossed with Kiko and Damascus as well. Breeding of goats in Nepal is mainly based on selection, pure breeding within indigenous flock, and crossbreeding to the available exotic breeds. There have been some biotechnological approaches applied in goat breeding and evaluation of native breeds. Estrus synchronization followed by artificial insemination is currently being practiced. Goats, being the most popular and easy source of household income and family nutrition in Nepal, could be the important source of national revenue provided with improved breeding and other husbandry practices.
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